diff --git a/bl1/bl1.ld.S b/bl1/bl1.ld.S
index e4c454b..26c0ae4 100644
--- a/bl1/bl1.ld.S
+++ b/bl1/bl1.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/bl2/bl2.ld.S b/bl2/bl2.ld.S
index 4fe78f9..69c22eb 100644
--- a/bl2/bl2.ld.S
+++ b/bl2/bl2.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -108,7 +108,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S b/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
index 57709e3..3728643 100644
--- a/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
+++ b/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -139,7 +139,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unnecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S b/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
index da58717..7b97758 100644
--- a/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
+++ b/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2015-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/bl31/aarch64/bl31_entrypoint.S b/bl31/aarch64/bl31_entrypoint.S
index 419927d..e7d94b5 100644
--- a/bl31/aarch64/bl31_entrypoint.S
+++ b/bl31/aarch64/bl31_entrypoint.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include <el3_common_macros.S>
 #include <pmf_asm_macros.S>
 #include <runtime_instr.h>
-#include <xlat_tables_defs.h>
+#include <xlat_mmu_helpers.h>
 
 	.globl	bl31_entrypoint
 	.globl	bl31_warm_entrypoint
diff --git a/bl31/bl31.ld.S b/bl31/bl31.ld.S
index dd046c4..c6a4fe4 100644
--- a/bl31/bl31.ld.S
+++ b/bl31/bl31.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
 #if ENABLE_SPM
diff --git a/bl32/sp_min/sp_min.ld.S b/bl32/sp_min/sp_min.ld.S
index e798a0d..71de883 100644
--- a/bl32/sp_min/sp_min.ld.S
+++ b/bl32/sp_min/sp_min.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2016-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -176,7 +176,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/bl32/tsp/tsp.ld.S b/bl32/tsp/tsp.ld.S
index d256b46..31c5a67 100644
--- a/bl32/tsp/tsp.ld.S
+++ b/bl32/tsp/tsp.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)
diff --git a/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_mmu_helpers.h b/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_mmu_helpers.h
index fd3efc3..d83d764 100644
--- a/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_mmu_helpers.h
+++ b/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_mmu_helpers.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -7,13 +7,51 @@
 #ifndef __XLAT_MMU_HELPERS_H__
 #define __XLAT_MMU_HELPERS_H__
 
+/*
+ * The following flags are passed to enable_mmu_xxx() to override the default
+ * values used to program system registers while enabling the MMU.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * When this flag is used, all data access to Normal memory from this EL and all
+ * Normal memory accesses to the translation tables of this EL are non-cacheable
+ * for all levels of data and unified cache until the caches are enabled by
+ * setting the bit SCTLR_ELx.C.
+ */
+#define DISABLE_DCACHE			(U(1) << 0)
+
+/*
+ * Mark the translation tables as non-cacheable for the MMU table walker, which
+ * is a different observer from the PE/CPU. If the flag is not specified, the
+ * tables are cacheable for the MMU table walker.
+ *
+ * Note that, as far as the PE/CPU observer is concerned, the attributes used
+ * are the ones specified in the translation tables themselves. The MAIR
+ * register specifies the cacheability through the field AttrIndx of the lower
+ * attributes of the translation tables. The shareability is specified in the SH
+ * field of the lower attributes.
+ *
+ * The MMU table walker uses the attributes specified in the fields ORGNn, IRGNn
+ * and SHn of the TCR register to access the translation tables.
+ *
+ * The attributes specified in the TCR register and the tables can be different
+ * as there are no checks to prevent that. Special care must be taken to ensure
+ * that there aren't mismatches. The behaviour in that case is described in the
+ * sections 'Mismatched memory attributes' in the ARMv8 ARM.
+ */
+#define XLAT_TABLE_NC			(U(1) << 1)
+
+#ifndef __ASSEMBLY__
+
 #ifdef AARCH32
 /* AArch32 specific translation table API */
-void enable_mmu_secure(uint32_t flags);
+void enable_mmu_secure(unsigned int flags);
 #else
 /* AArch64 specific translation table APIs */
 void enable_mmu_el1(unsigned int flags);
 void enable_mmu_el3(unsigned int flags);
 #endif /* AARCH32 */
 
+#endif /* __ASSEMBLY__ */
+
 #endif /* __XLAT_MMU_HELPERS_H__ */
diff --git a/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_tables_defs.h b/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_tables_defs.h
index 3a7f245..1c84fe0 100644
--- a/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_tables_defs.h
+++ b/include/lib/xlat_tables/xlat_tables_defs.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <arch.h>
 #include <utils_def.h>
+#include <xlat_mmu_helpers.h>
 
 /* Miscellaneous MMU related constants */
 #define NUM_2MB_IN_GB		(U(1) << 9)
@@ -165,16 +166,4 @@
 #define XN_SHIFT			54
 #define UXN_SHIFT			XN_SHIFT
 
-/*
- * Flags to override default values used to program system registers while
- * enabling the MMU.
- */
-#define DISABLE_DCACHE			(U(1) << 0)
-
-/*
- * This flag marks the translation tables are Non-cacheable for MMU accesses.
- * If the flag is not specified, by default the tables are cacheable.
- */
-#define XLAT_TABLE_NC			(U(1) << 1)
-
 #endif /* __XLAT_TABLES_DEFS_H__ */
diff --git a/plat/mediatek/mt6795/bl31.ld.S b/plat/mediatek/mt6795/bl31.ld.S
index eacb1b2..0fbd3f7 100644
--- a/plat/mediatek/mt6795/bl31.ld.S
+++ b/plat/mediatek/mt6795/bl31.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2016-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@
     /*
      * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
      * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on
-     * the .bss section and eliminates the unecessary zero init
+     * the .bss section. The tables are initialized to zero by the translation
+     * tables library.
      */
     xlat_table (NOLOAD) : {
         *(xlat_table)